| Buffett's Big Rail Buy: What It Means for Berkshire Shareholders Ravi Nagarajan submits:As reported earlier today, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has entered into a definitive agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) to acquire for $100 per share in cash and stock the remaining 77.4 percent of outstanding BNSF shares not currently owned by Berkshire. In addition, Berkshire Hathaway will split its B shares 50-for-1 in order to accommodate a share exchange for smaller owners of BNSF shares. This transaction, which will bring Berkshire’s investment in BNSF to $44 billion including shares already owned, is the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway history. What does this acquisition mean for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders?Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Ford Leads the Way in December Auto Sales Wall Street Strategies submits:The year that every automaker would like to forget is now officially behind us. December's monthly auto sales figures are in and the final month of the year put an almost giddy feeling on the final month of the year. General Motors grabbed most of the headlines in the final weeks of December with its Fire Sale announcement for Pontiac and Saturn models in hopes of working through its inventory. GM now estimates that roughly two months worth of inventory remains of the two brands combined (or about 1,700 units). Seven of the nine automakers that we monitor saw year over year increases for the month of December, led once again by Hyundai (HYMLF.PK), Toyota (TM), and Ford (F), which saw sales increase 40.6%, 32.3% and 32.8% respectively; however, the full year figures show a different story, with most automakers still reporting that sales fell compared to last year. Despite the strong improvements with Cash for Clunkers and the last two months of the year, it was difficult to offset the 40%-50% declines in the beginning of the year. Chrysler saw a 3.7% decline for month, which brought the annual figure to a 35.9% decline, however, the Company did extend its 0.0% APR offer to all 2010 models. It is a very different industry today than it was twelve months ago. A year ago at this time, Rich Wagoner, CEO of GM (fired), Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler (fired), Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford (still has his job), and Ron Gettlefinger, head of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union (still has his job too) were taking flak from Congress about showing up to a hearing asking for help in private jets. Since that time, Congress has doled almost $1 trillion in aid, two automakers have entered and exited bankruptcy, and the world has bounced back from its brink of disaster mentality.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Eddie Lampert Ups AutoNation Stake Market Folly submits: In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Eddie Lampert's hedge fund firm RBS Partners has updated its stake in AutoNation (AN). Lampert has boosted his holdings by acquiring 137,143 shares on April 9th at a weighted price of $18.2887, 134311 shares on April 12th at $18.2963, and finally 320,985 shares on April 13th at $18.2891 per share. In total, RBS Partners recently purchased 592,459 shares of AN. After all its purchases, Lampert's RBS now owns 59,441,500 shares of AutoNation.Keep in mind that he also bought shares in his other investment vehicles as well (ESL Investors, ESL Institutional Partners, etc). These purchases were on a smaller scale on the same dates and around the same prices. The overwhelming majority of his position though is held via his hedge fund RBS Partners. Lampert of course recently graced Forbes' billionaire list.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Three Reasons to Cast Back on Seanergy Wide Moat Investing submits: Over the last few months, many have asked for an update to our previous analysis of Seanergy Maritime (SHIP). Since January, much has changed. Seanergy did follow through on its planned capital raise, which brought in $30m, but executed at a much worse price (about 1.2 per share) than we expected. A few days later, their plans to acquire a 2009 Capesize vessel were nixed. Though in May, Seanergy announced its new plans to acquire a 51% ownership interest in Maritime Capital Shipping Limited, of Bermuda (“MCS”) for a purchase price of $33m. Last week Seanergy announced that the MCS deal had closed. And the following day, they reported Q1 results. In light of these changed conditions, anglers want to know—would you still “throw it back” at these prices? Frankly, I would.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Airline Stocks: Up and Away? Market Blog submits: By David BermanIt’s easy to scoff at airline stocks – and I have been guilty of doing this – due to volatile earnings, slim margins and high chances of slipping into bankruptcy protection. But if you want a clear example of how many cyclical stocks are outperforming their defensive brethren this year, look up in the sky.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |